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PALMERSTON secured NRL NT’s minor premiership against Nightcliff at Rugby Park yesterday with a 42-16 victory featuring four sin bins and a send-off.

The match shaped as a finals warm-up and it delivered in the first 40 minutes as both sides turned on the physicality.

The Dragons crossed first after a ricochet fell into the hands of Al Foster, who had a simple passage to the line, but that was when the tide turned.

The Raiders scored the next three tries, through Jeromie Edwards, Brad Hansen and Matt Johnson respectively. The best of them came from Johnson, who split Nightcliff’s defence before running 80m to score.

Adrian Corrie and Palmerston winger Alex Johnson were both binned for their involvement in a 25th-minute melee, but Nightcliff’s halfback returned to slice through and score before halftime.

The Dragons barely mounted a challenge in the second 40 minutes though, as Daniel Keelan’s side proved itself as the competition’s benchmark.

Adam Hall stood up to Foster in the middle of the park, and in Ed Murphy’s absence, the Dragons failed to win the grind.

Nightcliff winger Karl Younger and his opposite Will Beers were binned midway through the second stanza, ­before Corrie was dismissed with 15 minutes remaining for striking a second time.

But by that point, the contest was a forgone conclusion.

Nightcliff coach Daniel Roach was a despondent figure after the match.

“The boys have got to get to training and want it, they have to get that hunger back,” Roach told the Sunday Territorian. “We’ve had a period where we’ve beaten teams by 50 points and now we have come back to the harder teams, and it’s lacked off.”

Roach’s comments were a contrast to Keelan’s, who said Palmerston’s attitude proved the catalyst for victory.

“Nightcliff built it up as their final, so I told my boys to treat it the same way,” Keelan said. “They are really hungry.”

Meanwhile, Brothers can seal fourth spot next week if they beat Souths by more than 48 points, having defeated Katherine 42-18 last night.

The Cowboys could have sealed finals with a win, but now face a nervous wait with a bye next week.